Episode 6: A Testis Conversation

Posted on November 17th, 2017

On this episode, Jenna of the Boob Cancer talks to John Taylor of the Ball Cancer (it's like a post-cancer Game of Thrones episode) about the one thing you really don't want your doctor to say when she's looking at your nuts, mental health issues, going back to school when you still have chemo brain, online support groups, marriage, children, scanxiety, and much more. Oh, and talking to your mom about your nuts. Yeah, things get real really fast when you're diagnosed with testicular cancer at age 29.

Oh, first, a warm fuzzy moment: this episode's guest makes one thing very clear--no matter how the world is making you feel, there are a lot of good people out there. Johnny T is one of the most open and generous with his story people I've come across. He's also generous with his time, offering other cancer survivors and patients, and people grappling with mental health issues a word or 2,000 of support when they reach out on Twitter. In 25 years as a writer, I have interviewed a lot of people. I am frequently very grateful that regular people are willing to trust their words and stories with me. This interview with Johnny T just grabbed a spot high on that list of "damn, I am very lucky I got to talk to that one."

For more information about testicular cancer, visit the Testicular Cancer Foundation website. And parents! Talk to your boys about their nuts. Testicular cancer most often rears its ugly little cells between the ages of 15 and 34. Encourage boys to know their nuts. Seriously. Stop blushing. Have the talk.

Welcome to Life (After Cancer), an honest (perhaps too honest) and often irreverent podcast for post-cancer types who think the "new normal" (blech, that term!) can go [bleep] itself. Cause life after cancer looks like your own life--but it's completely different. Host Jenna Schnuer, an Anchorage-based New Yorker (yeah, it's a thing), finished up her own runaround with bad cells in April 2015. She kept expecting life to spring back to normal but shocker(!), it didn't. So now she's talking about it and she wants you in on the conversation too. So whether you had cancer of the boobs, balls, brains, or any other part, this podcast is for you.